Forget what you know about sunglasses and sunglass brands. At least we had to, as soon as it was abundantly clear that eyewear impressions formed during summer bike shop gigs many years ago are outdated and irrelevant.
In our Press Camp meeting with Ryders Eyewear, one big takeaway was that sunglass technology has changed quite a bit over the years. In learning about some of the eyewear innovations, our chat with Ryders during the 2016 Press Camp was perhaps the most intriguing and informative of all the tech-related meetings. Learn about some of the latest eyewear technology from Ryders in the pages below:
Forget Changing Your Lens
We’ve been impressed by the new generation of photochromic (photochromatic) lenses, and have appreciated options like those on the Rudy Project Firebolt Photoclear model for riding in all conditions: on sunny days, on dark wooded trails, and even at night. Ryders agrees with the one-lens-for-most-riding approach, and says its latest Fyre lenses, coming shortly, are the ultimate lens for cyclists who ride in extremely varied conditions.
What that also implies is that the days of bringing three different lenses to an event are long gone. Ryders no longer sells many models that have interchangeable or replaceable lenses, and says it found most owners never changed lenses, and most spare lenses never left the original box. Sound familiar?
Ryders Eyewear’s Fyre photochromic lenses not only change in tint, but also change in color. These change from pink to purple. Press Camp 2016. © Cyclocross Magazine
The Ryders Fyre photochromic lenses have the capacity to make dramatic shifts in tint, not only in amount of light they transmit (from 17% to 77%), but also in color. As the lens darkens, it selectively filters certain colors for better definition enhancement, using what the company calls Colour Boost. Smith and Oakley have all debuted similar color filtering technologies, but none have paired it with the photochromic and anti-fog treatments that Ryders uses.
